


Solo Mission

by CCaptainRex



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Everyone Needs A Hug, Fake Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25599370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CCaptainRex/pseuds/CCaptainRex
Summary: Ahsoka has been assigned her first solo mission from the Jedi Council - The only problem? No one can know she's alive.
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing anything Star Wars related, fuelled by the fact I just rewatched Clone Wars for the millionth time - Enjoy!

Ahsoka had never taken a mission like this - Alone, coming directly from the Jedi council themselves. No Obi-Wan, or Anakin, or 501st. It would be her first solo mission, along with her most dangerous one yet. The idea was almost terrifying, but at the same tie, she was ready for what she needed to do. 

The others wouldn't be, which was the problem. Fake her death, go undercover in a female coven, stop the Separatists before they had the chance to do anything. To make it real, she wasn't allowed to tell anyone, whatsoever. She tried her best to steel herself on the ride down to the planets surface, but even Anakin could pick up on the slight tinge to her emotions. 

"Something on your mind, Snips?" She didn't want to look at him, but she did anyway and slapped on a smile. 

"Just caught in my own head, Master. Nothing to worry about." The ship landed and she felt her stomach twist into a bigger knot. This is an easy job, but pretending to die around all the people she loves who were her friends? She wanted to apologize ahead of time, give some form of warning, but she couldn't. 

As she stepped out into the battlefield, she spared a glance towards Master Windu, who nodded at her. It was time for her biggest performance yet. 

The easiest way to have her die? On the battlefield, in an 'explosion' where Master Windu would plant an explosive and she'd be caught in the blast and die heroically. Her hands trembled slightly as she cut down droids and advanced forward, scanning for the ship Master Windu downed. Inside was a fake detonator that would provide the heat, sound, and feel of an explosion but nowhere near the pain. 

She felt the tell-tale sign of Master Windu tap her comms, which meant it was time. She spared a glance to Anakin, caught in battle, Obi-Wan shouting orders, Rex fighting with all his might, and wondered what their reactions would be. How long she'd be gone, she didn't know, but it would be so odd to have to prove to everyone she was alive again.

She sprinted towards the downed ship, and pulled a needle from her sleeve - Inside was some drug that would render her 'dead', or make her vitals and force signature so weak she'd be declared so. She stabbed herself in the wrist with a hiss and saw the detonator blink angrily at her before exploding, engulfing her in warmth and then darkness.

-

Rex feels the explosion before he sees it, and expects it to be the droids throwing bombs. Instead, he sees the flaming wreckage of a ship and an arm. A tan, orange arm with a lightsaber in its grasp on the ground and he's instantly running towards the ship. He's used to blood and seeing his brothers die, but seeing Ahsoka in a pool of her blood (fake, but he'll never know) breaks him. He feels the scream rip from his throat as she rushes towards the flames, and his resolve comes crashing down around him. 

Fives covered him as he whipped off his helmet and tried to feel for a pulse. "Come on, Kid, you can't do this to me," Ahsoka didn't move, nor did he feel a pulse. She's so small in his arms as he cradles her in his lap. Where's Kix when he needs him? "I need a medic! Kid, wake up." He feels himself getting frantic as he shakes her shoulders. Her head slumps into the side, lightsaber falling from her grip and he can't move. He knows she's dead but it never felt like this. Death has never made his heart heavy or his eyes start to water because it's never a child dying on the battlefield. "Ahsoka, no!" If he were a Jedi, he'd feel the faint lifeform in his arms, and Mace was glad that Rex found her first, and not Anakin or Kenobi. "I need a medic!"

Anakin appears over him, and Rex looks up as he feels tears go down his cheeks. He furiously wipes at them and steels himself in front of the general. "Sir, she's not responding." He sees Anakin go pale as he fights off another droid.

"Shes-Rex, what happened?" Rex opens and closes his mouth a couple of times because he doesn't know. He doesn't understand how she could just die like that, in a small explosion. Weren't force wielders strong? Strong enough to withstand a mediocre blast?

"The ship, sir," Fives fills in for him. "She was caught in the explosion." Anakin drops beside him, taking Ahsoka into his arms as he desperately tries to feel for her force signature or something. Instead, he feels her cold body and can't help but stare at her lifeless form. Just like his mom, gone too soon. Just like Qui-Gonn. Something deep in him snaps and he lets Ahsoka fall back into Rex's arms and only hears the sound of blood rushing through his veins, and not the yelling of clones and the clattering of droids. He sees red and bolts into battle again. 

Rex knows that Anakin isn't the calmest or most collected Jedi, but he's never seen him like this - turning into a desperate killing machine as he takes out the droids like their flies. 

He pulls on his helmet, trying to ignore the fact Ahsoka's dead and covers her long enough for Kix to bring her back to a ship. Kix doesn't have a stretcher or anything and Rex watches him pick her up and run towards the nearest ship because there's nothing a field medic can do for a dead padawan. A glint on the ground catches his eye and he stares at Ahsoka's lightsaber before picking it up and clipping it to his belt.

Obi-Wan is directing a trooper when he's hit with an overwhelming disturbance in the force. A sadness, anger and loss all at once and he turns in time to see a Field Medic carrying Ahsoka in his arms call for back-up, that she's not responding and Obi-Wan feels a part of his heart break. Anakin's gone, rage filling him and Obi-Wan doesn't have the time or energy to scold him about letting his emotions overrun him. What's the most surprising is Rex, whose filled with deep sadness and Obi-Wan watches him gun down a droid with Ahsoka's lightsaber at his hip and he needs to clutch to a crate beside him by the sudden change. 

***********

The Resolute is deathly silent. Everyone knows, somehow, that something's wrong and someones missing. There's a gap when Obi-Wan and Anakin walk onto the bridge. Kix had met them when the battle was over with a knowing look and Anakin hadn't stopped looking at the covered figure on the medical table. Cody had found Rex, and pulled him aside. 

"Vod, I need you to take a minute. Breathe." Blood stained his hands and his chest plate and Rex wanted to rip them off and scrub his hands until they were completely clean. "You can't tell them looking like this." Rex didn't even think about the rest of the 501st. No one else knew, and Rex had to be the one to tell them.

He chokes up when he calls his men to order. Fives already knows, Kix already knows, but as he sweeps his eyes over the rest of them he feels a bit of him break inside. He steels his gaze because clones are better than that. He should be able to face his men and tell them their commander died and they did nothing to stop it and he shouldn't be so attached. But Ahsoka is the closest thing any of them will have to a little sister and when he starts speaking he can feel the pain drip off of them. He doesn't need to be a Jedi to feel that. "At 0500, Commander Tano was caught in an explosion," He coughs into his fist to try and cover the crack in his voice. "She didn't make it."

"Will there be a funeral, sir?" He doesn't doubt that everyone wants to attend, but frankly, he doesn't know if they'd be allowed to be. Rex doesn't know what he'd do if he wasn't allowed to be there. Then again, he doesn't know how he'd react to seeing her body burning on a pyre either. 

"Yes. Times and dates will be discussed once-" Once Ahsoka's body is examined and then family and friends are notified. Once the report is filed and Ahsoka's body is prepared for being burned. "Once we have all the information." 

Cody grips his shoulder and he turns to look at the Commander, who nods towards his room separate in the barracks. Rex reluctantly follows, prepared to have his ear chewed off about being emotional or being too attached but instead, Cody pulls him in for a hug and Rex lets the final tears slip down his face. 

-

"How could she just die like that?" Anakin hasn't moved from the bodies side in the Medical Bay. "I should've been there, Master, she would've lived." 

"Everyone has their time, Anakin," Obi-Wan doesn't agree with what he says one bit - Ahsoka was young and deserved more. She was a strong fighter and had a good heart. "This was hers." 

"You know it's not." Anakin snaps, and Obi-Wan waves his hand and lets the blanket cover up her almost colourless face. "Don't." 

"She needs to be at rest." Anakin fumes silently before it breaks into sadness, and he lets his shoulders slump as he collapses onto his crate. 

"She was my padawan. I should've been there and saved her." Obi-Wan places a hand on his shoulder. Anakin puts his overtop and squeezes and lets a silent tear slip down his face. "She can't be gone." 

Obi-Wan has never judged the force or when it decides to take people. But this hurt, in a deep way that he knew he shouldn't feel. Jedi do not have attachments, but that's ridiculous to ask of anyone. "Let's leave her to rest, Anakin." 

"But-" Anakin lets his argument fall as he stands, and Obi-Wan wraps an arm around him and pulls him into a hug. Anakin grips at the fabric of his robes and Obi-Wan still sees that tiny boy from Tatooine, and feels him tremble as they both come to terms with the fact their padawan is never coming back. 

***********

The funeral is short, as expected. People show up to pay their respects and Rex can't watch the pyre burn, instead staring at the ground in front of him. He's lost a lot of good men in his time and they never got a proper funeral or burial. No, their bodies were still strewn about the galaxy. Maybe this way, she's at peace with the force. 

Maybe this way its easier to clean up, unlike the blood that still stained his gloves. He hears a sniff beside him and watches Fives helmet shake ever-so-slightly, and feels his pain. His tears dried up a while ago, opting to stand tall for his brothers. The Generals don't cry, but they both look saddened. Anakin is still in his enraged stupor and has locked himself away from everyone. Having to leave hurts more than he likes to admit, heading back tot he barracks for their next battle. "Captain Rex, a moment." 

"Yes, sir?" He's surprised to have Anakin call him back, and they stand side by side in silence as everyone leaves the ashes to settle. Even once everyone is gone they remain silent until Anakin kneels and takes some ashes in hand, holding them as if it was the last piece he had of her. 

"You have her sabre," Rex had completely forgotten about the sabre at his hip. Looking down, he unclips it and holds it out. 

"Sorry, General, I kept it in case," He doesn't finish the sentence but they both understand the sentiment. Anakin takes the sabre and ignites it, moving it side to side slowly. "What will you do with it?" 

"It's customary that Padawans take on their master's sabre." Anakin clips it to his belt instead. "I thought maybe I should hold onto it." 

Rex nods and puts his helmet back on, war awaiting them somewhere in the universe. "Of course, sir." He pauses a moment and looks at the ashes. Ahsoka's ashes. "I'm going to miss her, Sir." 

"So will I, Rex. So will I." 

-

Ahsoka woke to a Medical Droid and Master Plo, who quickly eased her back into the world of the living with a sigh. "I know its fake, little one, but seeing you like that felt so real." 

"How is everyone?" Master Plo steps to the side and hands Ahsoka a new wardrobe and blaster. She never liked the feeling of them in her hand, but she didn't have much choice for her weapons this time around. 

"They're all quite moved by your passing. Your funeral was touching, I might add." The words sounded foreign coming to her. Her funeral. Her fake funeral to convince everyone she was dead. "You ready?" 

"Ready as I'll ever be. How long do you think it'll take before I'm reassigned to Master Skywalker?" Master Plo shrugs and moves to let her slip into the refresher to change. 

"Could be days," His voice says with a hint of optimism. "Could be months. We won't know until we address the situation." Ahsoka stares at herself in the mirror and meets the eyes of someone dead a couple of hours ago. She's more pale and sickly, and in her new robes, she could almost be a different person. She doesn't even have her headpiece on. "I can sense unease in you, Ahsoka. You must be prepared to do what you must." 

She shakes her head with a sigh and returns to the centre of the ship. "I know, Master, I just feel wrong lying to Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi. Shouldn't they be notified that I'm alive?" 

"To make it convincing, and to erase yourself, they cannot be aware of your mission." He plants both of his hands on her shoulders. "I know you feel apprehensive but you must not let your attachments get in the way. Leave them to me, I'll see that they're okay while you're away." 

"Alright, Master Plo." The pilot calls that they're entering the planets atmosphere and Ahsoka steels herself. Her first solo mission starts now, and she can't let herself get caught up in what she had to do to be here.

**********

Her mission is complete in two weeks and four days. Two weeks and four days of undercover, no contact, solo escapades. Returning to her ship, Master Plo greeted her with open arms and she should feel proud. Everything was a success, Master Plo and council were proud, but all she felt was tired and in need of a shower. 

She also wanted nothing more than to run and meet Anakin and Obi-Wan, even the 501st and scream that she was alive, but there were things to do and see before she could return to her normal life. First was a council meeting, and when she walks through the door Obi-Wan, who was forced to be removed from her first meeting fully drops his holopad in shock. She felt the same reaction, like ice water, was dumped all over her. Next, she felt the emotions. Happiness, sadness, anger, love. Love? The love of one Jedi to another, brotherly, fatherly bond that made Obi-Wan take two full strides and pull her into a hug. "Now I've seen everything - How on earth are you alive?" 

"Many things to discuss, we have," Yoda calls from where he sits and Obi-Wan breaks off before Ahsoka can apologize or explain. She goes over her full mission report and can't help but glance over at Obi-Wan every so often, seeing him deeply fascinated by the mission and her victory. The moment the briefing is done she returns to his side with a gasp. 

"I'm so sorry, Master, I would've told you but it was against the council's wishes-" He simply holds up his hand with a smile, then gently placing it on her shoulder. 

"You have nothing to apologize for. You had a mission, and you did well. You did give us a scare, however. We thought you were gone for good," There's a hint of sadness as they leave to go to the bridge. They pass Fives on the way, who salutes to them both before gasping and quickly taking a couple of steps back. Ahsoka wondered, briefly, who found her on the battlefield as Fives puts his hands on her cheeks and moves her head side to side. 

"I could've sworn you were dead a week ago, Commander." Ahsoka just laughs and takes Fives hands in her own. "How are you here? Are you alive?" 

It's Obi-Wans turn to laugh as he moves past them onto the bridge. "I'm alive, Fives, don't worry - I was on a mission and had to fake my death." 

"Well, am I glad to have you back, Commander. I'll go tell the others." Before she has a chance to speak he's sprinting down the hall towards the barracks and she can only smile and enter the bridge, where Rex turns to meet her gaze and freezes. His comms go off, likely Fives calling to tell him the good news. 

Rex sets his helmet down and stares at her, and she wonders when he got so old. She's been gone two weeks but he looks as if it has been an eternity. Bags under his eyes, a heavier look to himself - She wonders, vaguely, if that's because of her. "Ahsoka? Is-Is this you, or some illusion?" 

"It's me." She holds her hand out and he grasps it before smiling. 

"Glad to have you back, Commander. What happened?" He squeezes her hand before letting it go, moving to hold his helmet against his hip. 

"I faked my death for a mission." She watches Rex's face contort. 

"But the blood and the funeral-" She feels the way he's sad like he's sinking in it and this time she moves to hug him. He seems taken aback but slowly wraps his arms around her and rocks back and forth. 

Clone armour isn't the nicest to hug, by any means. "I'm sorry, Rex, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone. But I'm good, really." He pats her head with a smile. 

"I'm glad to hear it. Being commander wasn't my style, anyway." She gasps and pulls back. 

"They promoted you to Commander?" He shrugs with a smirk. 

"You weren't there, so I was next in line. You will be joining us again, right?" The door to the bridge slides open and Kix, Jesse, Hardcase and others file in to make sure that Fives wasn't just seeing things and Ahsoka laughs and she watches the clones try to stay professional. 

"Absolutely, Rexter!" She calls over the commotion and turns back to Kix, who is currently berating her for causing him a heart attack. 

She's missed her crew. 

-

Ahsoka finds Anakin trying to meditate. She's taken the most time getting to him, after showering and eating in the mess and getting back to her normal self, she realized Anakin was nowhere to be found. Fives had recommended Anakin's room, muttering something about how he hasn't left it for a while. 

She wants to run up to him and hug him but instead meets the tip of a lightsaber. "Get out of my head," Anakin's voice is trembling and dark and she can sense the unease. 

"Master Skywalker, it's me, really." He doesn't move the sabre. "I'm not a mind trick, I promise, I'm real." 

"Ahsoka's dead," His voice shakes as tears slip out and Ahsoka's heart falls into her stomach. "You're...You can't be here!" 

"I was on a mission, Skyguy! I wasn't allowed to tell you I faked my death!" He doesn't seem to buy it. "I'm telling the truth, I promise, I'm not dead! I'm sorry I couldn't tell you but I was sworn to secrecy and-and I feel terrible and I'm sorry-" 

Anakin turns off the sabre and reaches out to grab her wrist and holds it in a grip so tight she thinks it'll bruise. "You...You swear, I can ask anyone else on this ship and you're real?" 

"Anyone." Anakin tugs her into a hug and holds her, and she hurts. She's missed this so bad, but its nothing compared to how Anakin lets the tears slip as he holds her, grip tight. If he lets go, she might disappear again and he'll be left with the ghosts that have haunted him for two weeks, telling him he could've done better or saved her. 

Attachments aren't the Jedi way. But having a Padawan, and losing her, proved that was impossible. Anakin had Padme, Obi-Wan had Satine, but Ahsoka? Ahsoka didn't have anyone but them. Anakin swore, at that moment, he'd never let Ahsoka go again, hell, he'd never even let her out of his sight. 

For the first time in two weeks, he could breath easy as he stared down at his padawan who started crying with him. "Why're you upset? You're the one who-" To finish that sentence would be cruel. "It's alright, Snips. You don't have anything to apologize for. That being said, never ever do something like that again - Even if the council orders it, you tell me okay? I can't lose you again." 

"I promise, Skyguy." She wipes her eyes with a laugh. So, her first solo mission isn't what she expected. But in the end, she had Anakin, and Obi-Wan, and Rex, and the 501st, and everything was right with the universe again. 


	2. What Matters Most

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rex felt simultaneously both too old and too young for this. War dragged on, battles were fought, men were lost, they moved on. Once he truly believed in the Republic, and what they were fighting for. But more often they not he's doubting himself, this whole damned war, and the people who lead him. 
> 
> The Aftermath of Solo Mission

Rex felt simultaneously both too old and too young for this. War dragged on, battles were fought, men were lost, they moved on. Once he truly believed in the Republic, and what they were fighting for. But more often they not he's doubting himself, this whole damned war, and the people who lead him. 

Rex was thirteen years old. He was the captain of a battalion, held dying men in his arms and was a weapon at thirteen. Physically, he was in his twenties or thirties maybe, but no one would tell him the exact age. After all, what did a clones age matter? They were as disposable as droids. After this war was over, god what a thought, he can't picture a life where he isn't just a mass-made man created for one purpose: To fight for the Republic. 

What's different, this time around is the fact he's fighting side by side with an actual child. Ahsoka. She's a padawan, a fighter, and is going through the same things he is and yet she still remains youthful and full of quick comebacks and dressed like she's ready for a weekend out and not a battlefield. He's so terrifyingly worried for her because he seems himself in her - The dark look in her eye when a clone goes down, the hidden tears from nightmares he's witnessed, the shaking hands as she buries a friend. 

"I don't think a Padawan is well suited for a battlefield, sir." He remembers saying that to General Skywalker and Anakin agreeing, fully, but he kept her anyway. 

And now they're here. Ahsoka, bleeding out on some barren planet staring him dead in the eye and begging him to not let her die. He doesn't remember what the stupid mission is, or why they're here, or why Ahsoka was left alone to run through a battlefield. Alone. No one covered her, no one tried to protect her, not even Anakin, who had seemingly disappeared. "Please, Rex, I don't-I never even got-" 

"Save your energy, sir." Sir! What a title for a child. "Kix is on his way, we'll have you fixed up in no time." 

"It really hurts." She's crying and clutching her side where a rogue shot hit her dead on. Rex is applying pressure to the wound, some shiny covering them as he tries to comfort her to the best of his ability. She's bleeding out and he can tell - Togrutas might be different than clones, but this much blood can't be healthy to lose. 

"Kid, everything's going to be okay." She moves her hands from her side to his helmet and shakily takes it off, a stupid decision in the middle fo a battlefield. He wants to scold her, but he sees the fear in her eyes. "What're you doing?" 

"Want to...see...you." She's fading and he can tell. He doesn't need to be a Jedi to feel the life-force slipping away from her. "Before I go." 

"You're not going anywhere, Ahsoka." She closes her eyes, and Rex panics. He's supposed to be strong on the battlefield, a leader, but this is a child. There's a child dying in his arms and he has no way to comfort her. He gently shakes her shoulder and her head tilts the side. "Come on kid, you can't do this to me!" He felt for her pulse point-It was there, but barely. 

Kix was nowhere near, and the shiny covering them got shot down a while ago. Against all better judgement, Rex picks her up, arms under her shoulders and knees and bolts back towards the landing craft. There should be a medkit there, and he could likely try to patch her up. His communicator goes off, and he gently lowers Ahsoka to the floor of the ship and answers. "Rex, where are you?" Anakin snaps, and Rex realizes he doesn't even have his helmet with him. 

"Ahsoka's dying, sir." The words feel strange in his mouth. "She needs immediate medical attention." 

"Where are you?" He doesn't know. Ahsoka shifts on the ground and he grabs the med-kit and rips through it, trying to find something useful. "Rex, where are you?" He's never heard Anakin so angry. 

"The landing point, sir." There's no way he'll ever get back in time. He's paged Kix a million and a half times, but no ones answering. Anakin says something over the comm but it's static and garbled and cuts out instantly. A small hand slips into his and he stares down at Ahsoka, who eyes are barely open as she squeezes his hand with a small smile. "Ahsoka, hold on, please." 

"I see...someone." Her eyes are unfocused and staring off int the distance, and Rex pulls her into his lap and cradles her. 

"Please, Ahsoka, you can't do this to me-" He's crying now, and Ahsoka leans her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes one final time, and Rex finally opens his. It's the same type of dream he's had since Ahsoka died. Well, not really dead as he now knows, but it doesn't stop the dreams that still plague him every night. 

Normally he'd go to the gym and work out his anger and fear but tonight he just feels defeated. He slowly sits up in his bunk and stares around at his brothers, all sleeping peacefully like they'd been programmed to do. Rex slips from his cot and attaches his armour, knowing he won't sleep again tonight. 

He finds himself standing in the bridge, watching over as they fly through hyperspace to their next mission. To his surprise, Anakin already is standing there, arms clasped behind his back as he stares dead ahead. "Shouldn't you be asleep, sir?" 

"I should say the same thing to you, Rex." They stand side by side and find comfort in the presence of each other. Rex isn't used to being human or having emotions, but the day Ahsoka died a part of him did too. He's never sure what to do with himself, with these emotions, and Anakin is always a rock to hold him down. Maker knows the Jedi has his own problems with emotions. "Are you alright?" 

"Fine, sir, I just-" Does he tell his commanding officers he's having nightmares? Is that really what he's about to do? "I keep seeing Ahsoka die in my dreams. It's unsettling, that's all." 

"I dream of my mother every night." Rex tries to contain his shock. Anakin doesn't discuss things like this, and Rex isn't one to ask. "I wish I could say it gets easier. Eventually, you just start to adapt, I suppose." 

"I've lost many brothers in this war, sir. Their deaths all meant a victory for the Republic - But Commander Tano's? I don't know how I could handle her actually dying, sir." 

Anakin takes a long look at him with a mix of understanding and pity. "I couldn't either. Being a Jedi means you can't form attachments, but that's foolish during a time of war. That's why I got her this," He reveals a second, smaller lightsabre in his hand. "She needs more protection. If we're not there to save her, she needs to be able to save herself." 

The ship doors open and Ahsoka comes bouncing in like nothing's different like she didn't disappear for two months and that everything's perfectly fine and back to normal. "Rex, Skyguy, having a party without me?" 

"Wouldn't dream of it, snips." Anakin hides the lightsabre from her as she stares out into hyperspace. "Can't sleep?" 

"I had a nap earlier today, it's messed up my sleep schedule." She doesn't ask why either of them are up, and Rex is grateful for it. Ahsoka is the closest thing Rex will ever get to a sibling, but more importantly, she's his friend. She sees him as Rex, not CT-7567. "I was thinking of going down to the mess hall, would you like to join?" 

"I'm awaiting orders from the Council," Anakin smiles at him. "Rex would love to join you in my place." 

He lets Ahsoka lead him to the mess hall, where a few others are awake and about. Ahsoka grabs some rations before sitting, and Rex takes a place across from her. "So, Rex, anything fun happen while I was gone?" Gone. He wishes he could see it as simply as that. 

"No, sir. I believe Fives was roped into drinking too much caf one night but that's about it." Fives did, in fact, drink way too much caf, but that was so he could stay awake long enough to finish Rex's report for him. Rex could do paperwork like it was nothing. He didn't find it fun, necessarily, but he could do it. That week was the first time he had to have someone else write for him.

"Man, who let him get into that stuff again? Remember the time he and Echo had a bet on who could drink more?" How could he forget? The poor guy was so high strung he could've done eighteen laps of the Resolute and keep going.

"I don't think I've ever seen a clone run so fast. Maybe we should use that on the battlefield, they'd get good distance." They share a laugh, and Rex missed this. How easy it is to just sit down and talk. At some point Jesse joins them, ranting about a bet he lost to some 212th trooper, and then Kix, Hardcase, Tup, and Rex just has to sit back and watch his family come together for a moment. This is real, this isn't another dream, no, he can feel his friends around him. He's here, in this moment, and Ahsoka's alive. Everyone's happy and healthy, and that's what matters most. 


End file.
